September 1st Start Date for First Whole30 Challenge

[Jaelandfriends]

Hi Everyone, I'm sorry I'm so bad about posting.  We are still here and going strong.  My husband doesn't even want to do the reintroduction.  I'm not sure how I feel about that and if that's a good idea.  Is it best to go ahead and do that and then start again?  We are both concerned about not going back to the way we ate before.  What are you all planning to do?

We are going a little more simply now with our meals.  We love buying whole chickens and either doing them in the oven or the crock pot.  Adding vegetables and fruit is an easy meal for us.  We are rotating with chicken, fish and beef dishes and now and then making something like the chili.  I'm finding myself hungry a lot this week.  I don't know if I'm just not eating enough or what.  I wasn't feeling this way last week.

I can't wait to see if we have lost weight!  Good to hear from all of you.  Hang in there, 7 more days!

Jael

[Teddie]

Hi, Jael, Vivi, and Runfunky,

Jael - so good to hear from you. Do you think it is only 4 of us left? I wonder what the usual drop out rate is? This program definitely takes some planning and determination  .

I want to say that getting the WHOLE30 Daily for $14.99 is the best money I ever spent! I've been reading it to my husband every morning so he better understands what we are doing. It is great information and motivation. Plus, the reinforcer when you click the "I did it!" link is great. Some of the videos are hilarious. 

We had a party on Thursday and I spent the entire time staring at a bowl of chips with salsa on our table! No margaritas either! The hostess knew what we were doing and at my request brought us our own bottle of Perrier with some lime. There were also lots of veggies. We had a fun time in spite of the restrictions.

Re-Entry.....I bought some vegan protein powder to try in our kale, blueberry, banana shakes for breakfast. So, I guess the first thing we are re-introducing is legumes. We have had these shakes before and really enjoy them. We're kind of tired of eggs and have not been able to bring ourselves to have lunch or dinner for breakfast. Apparently after consuming said legumes we need to go back to WHOLE30 eating for 3 days to see if fatigue or headaches or other problems return. It was interesting, Ron had lunch with his son at Olive Garden and did his best. There were beans in the soup, which he ate, and the next day he was really tired. We'll see if that happens again.

There's a really good article, I think on WHOLE9.com, maybe you can find it on WHOLE30, called "Riding Your Own Bike". I highly recommend you read it as it will answer any questions about re-entry and probably doing the WHOLE30 again.

The final countdown has begun...5, 4, 3, 2, 1....  

T:)

[ShannonM816]

On 9/24/2016 at 2:35 PM, Jaelandfriends said:

Hi Everyone, I'm sorry I'm so bad about posting.  We are still here and going strong.  My husband doesn't even want to do the reintroduction.  I'm not sure how I feel about that and if that's a good idea.  Is it best to go ahead and do that and then start again?  We are both concerned about not going back to the way we ate before.  What are you all planning to do?

We are going a little more simply now with our meals.  We love buying whole chickens and either doing them in the oven or the crock pot.  Adding vegetables and fruit is an easy meal for us.  We are rotating with chicken, fish and beef dishes and now and then making something like the chili.  I'm finding myself hungry a lot this week.  I don't know if I'm just not eating enough or what.  I wasn't feeling this way last week.

I can't wait to see if we have lost weight!  Good to hear from all of you.  Hang in there, 7 more days!

Jael

Sometimes we just are hungrier and that's okay -- eat bigger meals or throw in a mini meal. It could be a number of things going on -- if you're more active or more stressed or maybe it's where you are in your monthly cycle. Definitely women in the week or so leading up to their period experience increased hunger and benefit from having extra starchy vegetables and bigger meals overall.

As for reintroduction, it can be helpful just to go ahead and do them now, so if you find yourself in a situation where there isn't a perfect whole30 option, you know how you react to different items so you know if there's something you react badly enough to that you want to avoid it at any cost.

However, if you don't want to do a full reintroduction right now, you could do a slow roll approach where you reintroduce things as they come up in the course of your normal life:  http://whole30.com/2014/09/dear-melissa-slow-reintroduction-roll/

[julijan]

hey everybody! i completely spaced on checking in. i am SO happy to have done this, & jael-- my bf & i are on the same page of continuing on with basically this same way of eating most of the time with the occasional indulgence.

i am blown away by how good i feel. my senses seem to all be heightened, & vegetable-heavy meals that might have seemed plain now seem bursting with flavor & just right. i catch myself missing cheese & booze & the occasional comfort food like pizza or a sandwich, but i recognize them as momentary cravings & do just fine without them. some of the meals we've eaten this month have been the best of my life, no joke.

proud of y'all & cheers! home stretch now, & best of luck with whatever you choose to reintroduce or not. 

<3, 

juli

[runfunky]

Final week!  I'm so proud of all of us!  Whole30 eating is sort of becoming second nature by now.  I do feel like I've gotten a little lazy about trying new recipes and have just been doing more simple cooking of my old favorites (pot roast, grilling out, etc.).  I feel so lucky to have supportive friends through this process!  We attended a dinner party last night and my friend Amanda went out of her way to bring something that she knew my husband and I could eat.  Of course, I shuttled her and four other ladies home after the concert last week since I was the obvious designated driver, so my friends have benefited a little too!

We had another busy weekend with kid activities...1 volleyball game, total of 6 soccer games, 2 softball games plus we took the kids to watch a college soccer game.  We also had what I hope was our last weekend of extreme heat.  The hectic weekend schedule wreaks havoc on the timing of my meals and I found my energy level wavering at times. I had to eat a snack in between games and opted for a mini apple pie Larabar.  It was delicious.  I realized after my son's first soccer game on Saturday morning that his breakfast of bacon, eggs and half a banana and choco milk was probably a little light on carbs for his activity level.  My husband and I added one waffle to the mix with the protein on Sunday morning and saw a big improvement in his performance.  It was a reminder that my active kiddos need at least some carbs!

My last challenge this week is some business travel on Thursday/Friday.  I'm glad this is coming at the end of Whole30 instead of the beginning!  It is a road trip instead of by plane so I will just pack a small cooler of snacks to have just in case compliant items aren't readily available.

Lastly, my college age niece came over yesterday to raid my closet, which is a win-win event because it helps me stay organized and she loves my hand-me-downs.  During the process I was forced to try on some items that I haven't worn in a while to see if they should go to her, charity, etc.  I fit into jeans that I haven't worn in 3 years!  This is a big deal.  Can't wait for the final weigh-in! 

[xxitsvivibaby]

ALMOST TO REINTRO!!! ^.^

[Teddie]

Happy Dance...Happy Dance  

[BrittywithLove]

Hi everyone!! 

It's been so long, I'm so sorry. But I've been reading up on your posts and it sounds like things are also going great with you all as well! Good news is that Whole30 feels more like a habit and not as much hard work as when I started. I think I might even extend it another 15 days! 

Is anyone getting the Food Freedom Forever book too? Turns out, Melissa will be in Santa Monica on October 12th so I'm going to try my hardest to be there and get a book signed by her.

So excited about the changes happening in my life right now! I've even been working out 4 days a week - kickboxing! A BIG PAT on the back to all of us, we're most there!!

[Jaelandfriends]

Hi all, Glad you checked in Britty.  We're at the end of the last day!  I thank everyone for the wonderful suggestions along the way.  I'm busy doing some of the reading suggested on reentry.  I feel we will continue on or at least do a slow roll going in.

We have a trip coming up in a week where we will be traveling and in other people's homes a lot.  This should be interesting.  I'm trying my best to plan for it but it's a little overwhelming.  I look forward to seeing everyone's reports tomorrow. :-)

 

[xxitsvivibaby]

WE DID IT! Wow! So proud of everyone! Tomorrow I start reintroductions and I'm doing dairy first. I'll have yogurt for breakfast, a cloud bread sammy for lunch (cloud bread isn't really bread- it's made with eggs, cream cheese, and baking soda but as I'm only reintroducing dairy it's hard to find compliant meals), a regular Whole30 dinner, and a teeny tiny tub of Ben & Jerry's with whipped cream for dessert with some fruit thrown in somewhere. We'll see how it goes. What are you all reintroducing first? 

[Teddie]

Hi, everybody,

Happy Day 31. I'm hoping the rest of you will post your gains and losses  . Here's my report.

I found the Whole30 thanks to Leo Baubata (Zen Habits) who introduced me to Courtney Carver of BeMoreWithLess. I read It Starts With Food first and then The Whole 30. We decided to do the Whole30 for the month of September 2016 and I spent about 2 weeks preparing with food lists and meal plans. It was time well spent.

The first 2 weeks were very difficult. I was crabby! I didn’t feel like I was losing weight as I thought I should since I wasn’t drinking wine. I felt BLAH!! Then by Day 13 I began feeling better. Preparing the meals still required much preparation – there were no salmon burgers to make dinner time a snap. Salad dressings had to be made. Sauces prepared. Squash baked. I would say by the final week we settled in to the meals and getting dinner became easier.

Now that the Whole30 is over I can say the following:

·      I have way more energy

·      I sleep really well and wake up fairly refreshed

·      I rarely am hungry between meals

·      My arthritis is somewhat improved

·      I’m not tempted by sweets

·      I lost  6.6  pounds and weigh 149

·      I lost  1.25   inches in my waist,  1.25   inches in my hips,  and  1.25  inches in my thighs.

·      I just generally Feel Good!!

[runfunky]

Hello Whole30 champions!  I am just now getting a chance to catch up.  I am so proud of everyone!  I also feel like the first two weeks were the biggest challenge and then I fell into the routine of meal prep, etc.  It is a lot of work, but well worth it!  For October I have several family members and friends trying it so I am trying to support them with meals and advice.  I have enjoyed some non-scale benefits like less bloating and better skin but I am most excited about the weight loss.  I lost 8 pounds (132 to 124)!  My husband lost 18 pounds (202 to 184)!  I've decided to do a slow reintroduction of only a few things.  I had a couple of glasses of red wine on Saturday night and my stomach was a mess on Sunday...now I don't want wine anymore.  I also had a small amount of honey (drizzled on some roasted dates stuffed with ground macadamia nuts wrapped in bacon, AMAZING).  Other than that I'm staying "compliant" until I hit my goal weight.  

My husband, however, decided to skip the reintroduction process and pretty much add everything back immediately.  I am a little frustrated but it is so much harder for him to have special meals at the firehouse.  On Saturday he had some sweets, bread and a LOT of beer, but claimed that he felt perfectly fine on Sunday.  Grrrrr.  Going forward he said that he wants to be Whole30-ish 5 days a week and then have two days of eating what he wants.  We will see how that goes.  He really doesn't need to lose any more weight, but I don't want him to fire up that sugar dragon!

Everyone stay in touch!!  

[runfunky]

Hello Whole30 champions!  I am just now getting a chance to catch up.  I am so proud of everyone!  I also feel like the first two weeks were the biggest challenge and then I fell into the routine of meal prep, etc.  It is a lot of work, but well worth it!  For October I have several family members and friends trying it so I am trying to support them with meals and advice.  I have enjoyed some non-scale benefits like less bloating and better skin but I am most excited about the weight loss.  I lost 8 pounds (132 to 124)!  My husband lost 18 pounds (202 to 184)!  I've decided to do a slow reintroduction of only a few things.  I had a couple of glasses of red wine on Saturday night and my stomach was a mess on Sunday...now I don't want wine anymore.  I also had a small amount of honey (drizzled on some roasted dates stuffed with ground macadamia nuts wrapped in bacon, AMAZING).  Other than that I'm staying "compliant" until I hit my goal weight.  

My husband, however, decided to skip the reintroduction process and pretty much add everything back immediately.  I am a little frustrated but it is so much harder for him to have special meals at the firehouse.  On Saturday he had some sweets, bread and a LOT of beer, but claimed that he felt perfectly fine on Sunday.  Grrrrr.  Going forward he said that he wants to be Whole30-ish 5 days a week and then have two days of eating what he wants.  We will see how that goes.  He really doesn't need to lose any more weight, but I don't want him to fire up that sugar dragon!

Everyone stay in touch!!